Sizing Up Hail

Enhance your states of matter lessons with a hands-on science investigation that compares six different balls' color, texture, size, weight, ability to bounce, and buoyancy. 

Fourth graders participate in a ball identification exercise to help them identify birds. As a class, their teacher throws them a variety of different sized and colored balls for them to describe. Using these factors, they work together...

Land on the green with a fun resource. A short performance task asks pupils to consider the volume of containers that hold golf balls. They determine the percentage of empty space of the container for different numbers of golf balls.

Two activities explore the concept of size, especially small sizes down to the nano. Scholars practice determining volume, mass, and density and calculate exponential increases and decreases. They then predict and test the effect of size...

The first golf balls were made of wood and would only last for a few games. Modern golf balls last a lot longer but they don't float. The presentation provides the directions for a lab to determine the minimum amount of salt needed to...

Students use problem-solving skills and creativity to build a roller ball race track with adjustable ramp levels and changeable friction surfaces. They hypothesize how fast or slow balls will roll down ramps, varying the shape and size...

"Imagine a baseball dropped from an airplane flying at 30,000 feet; imagine that baseball reaching speeds of 120 MPH as it falls to the ground; and imagine you're under it!" How does hail form? How big can it get? Read more here about...

Fourth graders categorize details quickly. During the exercise, 4th graders are asked to identify various types of balls as they are quickly thrown into the air and then concealed.

Students investigate different balls' abilities to bounce. They conduct a Ball Bounce Height Comparison and Ball Bounce Time Comparison, complete a worksheet, graph the results of their experiment, and answer investigating questions.

Students determine whether the height of a tennis ball tube or the distance around the tube is greater, or whether they are the same. Using the formula for the circumference and diameter of a sphere, they discuss the word problem, and in...